Agghhh Weather - feeling like a very bad mum

[Clare-22]

I am such a bad mum. Over the last few days Loki has been far too hot in his lightweight turnout so today I decided to leave him unrugged. It hasn't stopped thundering / raining for the last 2 hours, and I am sitting at my desk at work helpless and feeling really bad. There is so much politics at the yard at the moment I bet this has given them great fuel for their bitching :rolleyes:

So I would like to say to the weather, look mate it is October, this unpredictable 20 degree weather is not on, please resume colder winter conditions, as it makes my life so much simpler when trying to decided what to do about rugs at 6am in the morning. Thank you :)

Phew feel a bit better now, not as good as I would feel if it would stop raining though ;)

Am I the only one struggling with this milder weather?

[Sarah-B]

Don't panic!! 99% of horses DON'T need rugs this weather!! Even when it is chucking it down. It's not cold at all. Most horse owners rug because they feel guilty - not because their horse really needs it.

At my yard the other 3 girls have been rugging everyday for about a month - this means that they are dry when it rains but also means that as soon as the sun comes out (which is still very warm) they must sweat loads!!

I won't rug AT ALL for a good month or more yet, TC wasn't rugged until December last year.....

[Peanut]

I'm struggling with the weather too and wish it would get a bit colder. I haven't put a lightweight on yet because it's far too mild; but with all this rain, my mare is coming in just caked in mud.

[Lucyad]

I know just what you mean - I left Oscar's rainsheet off when it was really unseasonably warm on Sunday, went to feed him last night (with his rug to put back on as it was colder), and he was standing at the gate with his coat all fluffed out looking chilly! On feeling his ears he wasnt freezing, but seemed happy to get his coat back on (he is a bit of a wimp). I'm glad I put it on though because it is rainy today (though mild). I leave for work when it is still dark and cold, so I hate sitting at work imagining him frying in the sunshine.

[Mehitabel]

he will not melt, he is not made of icing sugar. it is still warm - i went to work in my t-shirt this morning despite the rain. better damp than sweltering hot!

our school ponies are about half and half rugged at the minute - the older ones who get coldwhen wet are, the others aren't.

[Whatanejit]

Don't worry Clare - shut those bitches up - you know what you are doing and have done exaclty the right thing.

Personal example here............
We put a rug on Cooper on Friday night-until then he was unrugged. It was tipping it down on Friday.

We arrived on Saturday morning to find him sweating as YO hadn't taken it off when he brought him in - that is what I pay him to do.

We rugged him Sat night too as would be about 10-12 degrees.

Sunday night - forecast to be 16 degrees - put him out unrugged. YO decided to rug him anyway after we had left.:eek:

Un beknowst to them OH was off Mon and went to see Coops at 1330 to find him fully rugged still in his box, sweating profusely with less than an inch of water left in his bucket. It was 20 degrees outside!

I was like this............

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/Whatanejit/Smilies/smiliecreepy_monster.gif

Had a word with head girl that evening who said she thought that YO had taken it off and YO, it seems thought that HG would take it off.

Errrr - what if OH hadn't come around at 1330hrs?

He has now been unrugged all week and remember he is out overnight.

You know your own horse Clare - he'll be fine.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if it is raining, man - it is bloomin warm out there - it will wash all the stable dust off him - it must be nice and refreshing for him with that furry body and all.

[Trewsers]

Hey there, don't worry about the weather - its confusing at this time of year - I know that ours were out the other day without rugs (so covered in lovely mud and wetness) and I thought I should have rugged them, but it was so warm! I've put rain sheets on today - to be on the safe side!!! But I honestly don't think they would have melted if I hadn't!!! Don't feel bad!!!

[Clare-22]

Aww thank you I knew I could rely on you lot to make me feel better :)

Loki is indeed not made of icing sugar (as far as I know) so should be still there tonight :D

I guess it is all a learning curve with it being our first winter together, and always having had wimpy TBs before I am used to rugging up at the slightest sight of rain. If I get there tonight and he is cold and misrable, then I know I have got it wrong, otherwise he has probably had a lovely day freshening up in the rain and mud probably and all my worrying has been for nothing!

I am getting so much stick from the YO at the moment (all behind my back of course:rolleyes: ) I am getting paranoid everytime I make any decisions, especially ones that I know she won't agree with.

Dee I am not suprised you were breathing fire over the rug incidents, some people really find common sense a hard thing to come by! Poor Cooper, thank gawd your OH arrived when he did. I will definately be glad when the weather sorts itself out.

[capalldubh]

Don't worry!

I'm in Scotland so generally quite a few degrees cooler. Shannon's owner decided that it was time to put rug on her at weekend - weather forecast was horrible.

I arrived Monday morning to find rug in a wet heap in field with all buckles still done up and Shannon looking very wet and smug. I really wish I'd been there to see her wriggle out of the rug, it must have been like Houdini...

They really don't mind being wet, as long as it isn't freezing cold.

[Trewsers]

I am getting so much stick from the YO at the moment (all behind my back of course:rolleyes: ) I am getting paranoid everytime I make any decisions, especially ones that I know she won't agree with.



Hehe, sounds a bit like my old yard:rolleyes: Never mind she doesn't agree with your decisions - its your horse - remember that;) :D

[domane]

The first year of all 4 seasons with your new horse are a rather long and large learning curve. When I had owned Chez for about a month, so it must have been beginning December last year... she was out in a lightweight by then and it tipped it down for 48 hours... we had floods here, the lot. Anyway about 4 hours into the torrential rain, I was climbing the walls at work... worried stiff that Cherry would be miserably loitering at the gate waiting for me to get her in so I despatched Dom off to do the deed for me... and of course she was waaaaaay over the other side of the field, as happy as Larry, soaked through everywhere the rug didn't cover, head down happily munching grass. Sharp lesson for me :o

It's only natural for you to gret about Loki, but I can assure you that it will pass in time.

(PS I wouldn't dream of rugging Chez yet - far too warm ;) )

[Uly]

Clare-22

I must be somewhere near you and I was at my yard this morning when the heavens opened. Within 10 minutes the yard had flooded and we were all busy unclogging drains and sweeping water away from the boxes - all of us in t-shirts. It was very wet but warm. I'm sure you don't have to worry about your horse. :)

[nicolaj]

Yes it has been quite mild today. We keep having very heavy downpours then it stops.

Think the next few days are going to be dry and again mildish.

My horse isn't rugged and looking like a fluffy teddy bear, although a bit wet today!

Don't beat yourself up. I've got worried and gone up in the wet and he is usually standing in the middle of the field happily munching away. When I first had him it was a different matter, but I've learnt to be so much more relaxed about rugging.

[Big Ears]

i listened to the thunder and lightning and rain last night and thought poor cobs out there. but they were ok in the morning. then it came on torrential, so I put a lightweight rug on them. i brought them in for an hour or so, as the farrier was due but given the weather we cancelled. they are now back out unrugged and filthy

tonight unless it is going to tip it down i will leave them unrugged as it is mild.

[colettybetty]

I am getting so much stick from the YO at the moment (all behind my back of course:rolleyes: ) I am getting paranoid everytime I make any decisions, especially ones that I know she won't agree with.

Unless you have a desire to be a clone of your YO (think she'd like that :eek: ), carry on just as your are. Ok, no one ever gets the weather right all the time, so sometimes you just have to think, Damn !, but better to be a little cold than sweating and stifled.Not that he will be, I've been at the yard in a t-shirt today, it isn't cold.
I get behind-my-back-stick all the time from the Barbie doll fraternity, who progressed from dressing up their dolls to their ponies/horses. Heaven forbid the day when rug manufacturers start making rugs for Disco ponies..(OMG, they did- remember the glitter rugs a couple of years back !)

Think I'd better shut up now, getting very grumpy in my old age !

[teabiscuit]

its raining here too but its so warm i don't think they'll mind not being rugged

[Shadowlark]

It was minus 2 and raining when I left the house this morning.. 13 horses on the property... not one is blanketed.. and not ONE was in the shelter They are all happy soaked and eating :) It's thier choice, the shelter is large and dry and lit and they can come and go.. given the droppings..or lack there of they wern't even in last night when it was even colder and yuckier!

Don't feel badly at all Crazy Canadian horses seem to love this weather ;)

[Clare-22]

I am pleased to report Loki did survive the day ;) He was waiting at the gate for me but you were all right he was dry and warm :)

I had hardly got out of my car before the comments started though :rolleyes:

[Montana]

I had hardly got out of my car before the comments started though :rolleyes:

I'm sure I'll get it in the neck when Monty finally gets out of the barn - we have a lot of 'competition' riders (no offence to those who do comps - just couldn't think of another way to explain the type:p ), whose horses have been staying in, often 24 hours because of drizzle for several weeks now.

He stays out in all weathers as long as he has company, and couldn't be happier, healthier or better looking:D . Didn't rug last year till mid November, then continued to leave rugs off when it wasn't chucking down continuously.

You just have to remember that you are doing right by your horse, and that it is your decision how you look after him. Monty chooses to stand in the rain in the outside section of the barn, rather than under the shelter which covers the majority of it:rolleyes: :p

[Selle Francais]

Hi Clare - key question is Loki clipped? I don't clip my boy any more - I let him be a "natural horse", and he rides the seasons as they come, and is the happiest bunny in the universe as a result.

OK in deep midwinter we might throw a stable rug on him, but otherwise he's fine - horses are designed to survive with their normal coats down to minus 12 C. I hardly think current temperatures of plus 19 C, maybe plus 12 C at night are going to threaten him. I know that he's your baby, but he is also a HORSE - he's designed for this!

If he's clipped, then it's your responsibility of course - take my advice - try not doing it because everybody ends up much happier. (And all those rug-cleaning bills you save!)

( love his name by the way - is he as mischievous as his namesake?)

Nil illegitimi carborundum - loosely translated as "don't let the bastards grind you down!"

SF

[Clare-22]

Hi SF, no he isn't clipped yet, being a youngster and not knowing if he had been clipped before, I have been getting him used to the clippers gradually, I am going to have to clip him shortly though as he is worked 6 days a week and is sweating doing hardly anything, would much prefer him unclipped if I could get away with it. :)

Hehe yes he is just like his namesake, mischievious hardly covers it :D

[Selle Francais]

OK Clare - I take your point. If he's doing a lot of work, and sweating up then it's probably better to give him a light clip, but as he's a youngster you are right to take it slowly and gradually. And then of course you will then have to juggle the rugs around by second-guessing the weather!

In time though, as he grows up, you might want to see if he adapts his coat so that he can work through the winter without a clip - it's so much nicer for him if you can do that, but not at the expense of causing him distress of course.

Good to hear he's well-named (somebody obviously had a keen sense of humour) - equally obviously anyone out there with a horse called Baldur had better watch out!

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/norse-mythology.php?deity=LOKI

Best of luck, and don't let the bitches get to you - he's your horse, and you get to say what's best for him - there's some great advice above, so don't let it spoil your day.

SF

[Clare-22]

I am the guilty person who named him :cool: it took a while but after having him a month he named himself!

But I definately will not be happy if he turns into a mare, or we come across anyone called Baldur :D

[teabiscuit]

sympathies to you claire- your YO is way out of order (had to state the obvious i did)